So, Fall Fun Series year two final grade for one Miss Finger Candy? C minus. You know, if she could just buckle down and stop talking to everyone and everything she’s seated beside, she could really turn this year around (nothing my parents ever heard during parent-teacher conferences, nosiree!)
Okay, so I whiffed the Fall Fun Series. With the exception of series MVP Michelle of Melting With Michelle (who continued posting even during the lead-up to her end-of-October wedding!) we all dropped the ball a little as work and family obligations and unfortunate, unexpected problems with both derailed some of our best blogging intentions. And while I can’t speak for the other participants, I simply wasn’t feeling the autumn spirit this year (at least not until my spur-of-the-moment Halloween trip to Disney World; funny that it took leaving my cool weather, leaf-strewn home for Florida’s “faux” Fall for me to regain that spark.)
But I also have much to be thankful for as the autumn draws to a close. Great friends, close family, neato husband, snuggly cat, a roof over my head, comfort and safety. Also an arse that no longer requires its own postal stamp. And without trying to sound too conceited (but probably failing) I like to think I have at least some of those good things in my life because I worked hard to achieve them. Luck always plays a role, but so does effort and determination.
And so the second-to-last Fall Fun Series prompt was to thank yourself for something good you’ve done for you, yourself and I. For me, that was taking a hard, critical look at my lifestyle choices and realizing that if I didn’t turn things around, I was going to wind up the very definition of a life unfinished. My world had petrified, and I was in dire need of a swift kick in the pants.
So I kicked those pants, really kicked ’em into high gear, and many months later I’m feeling healthier, wealthier and more wise than I have in about a decade (well, maybe not wealthier; increased activity does not always come cheaply, particularly if your activity of choice is visiting Disney.)
And so today I’m thankful for having seen the diabetes forest for the trees, for having pulled back what was barreling towards irrevocable and for putting me first. Sounds selfish, but by not taking care of myself, I was relegating absolutely everyone else in my life to the bottom of the list. Actions speak louder than words and all that not-so trite stuff, and what my actions were saying was that nobody else mattered, because I hardly mattered. I’m thankful for having rejoined the human race so I can share this weird, maddening world with you all. 🙂
Au revoir, Fall.
Finger Candy 
I am beyond happy for you and super proud that you are giving yourself this moment of recognition. Health can be a challenge to maintain. And I hear you on the FFS, I of course was a super slacker this year and it was hard for me to not be as active but my sanity required it of me at the time. It was a struggle to post the majority of the month but that is another story. I am here to celebrate you and all your hard work. May it continue and be long lasting! xoxo
Aw, thanks very much, Julie. It’s been a slog, but a slog made easier by knowing I have lots of great people like you to share it with (and hold me somewhat accountable, although I promise I won’t show up at your house and ream you out for not ripping that Mars bar out of my hands yesterday. I must take *some* personal responsibility here!) 😉
And you needn’t apologize or even make note of any slackage – it happened to every single one of us this year (except Michelle!) And I think it just happens from time to time, particularly with us bloggers who have been at this a while, that you just get kind of burnt out. The idea well runs a bit dry and you just don’t really have anything to say. And then personal circumstances come along and put a kink in your regular routine, and your blog suddenly becomes a hindrance instead of a joy. I’m sort of there right now, kind of caught in this no-man’s land where I really don’t know what I want to write about – Disney, travel, nails, wax?
Anyways, I hope you can find a way back to happiness with your blog. Sometimes it just take a little bit of time away to reset the old gears, rediscover a passion and all that good stuff.
I’m so glad you responded to the prompt because I was beginning to think it was a total figment of my imagination made up in my head to come out and thank myself for stuff, which would have been awkward, so thank you 😉
Kudos to kicking yourself in the butt, you are a strong person to say it needs to be done and actually do so. ❤
No, you didn’t make it up! But I wasn’t going to post originally – not quite in that “Yay, me!” head space the other day, even if I was the one who suggested the prompt in the first place. I loved your post, though – I thought it was one of the best ones of the series. You’ve got a lot to thank yourself for, to be proud of, and you articulated it so nicely.
And I shall take your compliment with great thanks. I get some grief for being hard on myself (a lot of folks don’t get self-deprecating) but being “nice” to myself (“Oh sure, it’s totally normal and great to be 150 pounds overweight and more sedentary than a sequoia!”) was not exactly getting it done either. Making fun of yourself also stings a little less if you can actually produce some results to go along with it.